Thawing a frozen heart
by Skythief
Summary: FE 7 Ursula is hunting after Jaffar and Nino. Can they survive? Chapter V is done and the party approaches the shrine of seals! JaffarxNino -Discontinued-
1. Prologue: The traitors

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem, Nintendo and Intelligent Systems or however it is called do, and I'm pretty sure you knew that already.

Reviews are appreciated, flaming isn't.

That's all I wanted to say, so lets get started!

**Thawing a frozen heart**

**Prologue: The traitors**

Everything was dark. Everything was silent. Nino couldn't see anything, she couldn't hear anything. She was alone in the dark halls of Bern's royal manse. Alone – Alone with her thoughts, alone with her feelings. And yet she was afraid. Not about herself, but about Jaffar. About Jaffar who was somewhere in the manse, fighting Ursula's overwhelming forces. He had commanded her to flee, but she just couldn't move her legs. She couldn't let him alone!

'_Why not?' _A voice in her head said, _'What's so special about him? He's a Black Fang member, just like the people he's killing at the very moment.'_ "No!" Nino said to herself aloud, "He refused to kill me, and I'll refuse to let him alone!"

Maybe she could have better not done that. A monk who was sneaking along the hallway had heard her and now prepared to attack. From the corner of her eye, Nino saw how he threw a lightning flash at her. She screamed in panic and casted a spell from the magic tome she had taken with her. It was her best tome, an Elfire. But the monk didn't seem very impressed. "Die little traitor", he whispered. "St. Elimine, give me strength", he prayed and shared all his power to cast another Lightning spell. Nino was thrown backward by the impact of the spell and landed hard on the stone floor. She stood up again, her legs trembling. She opened her book and found a part she didn't fully understand. She recalled her mother telling her about harder parts of tomes and them doing more damage. She did her best to cast the spell, took all her strength together and closed her eyes.

When she opened her eyes again the monk was lying on the ground, heavily injured. He didn't breathe anymore. But already, the next danger appeared. The noise of her fight had drawn the attention of a swordsman and two mages. Nino knew she would not win this. She was scared, she wanted to run, but they where blocking her way and she was trapped. Only a miracle could safe her now. Gladly, a miracle came. The two mages turned around as they heard footsteps behind them. One of them got sliced open by a swift sword slash and the other one lost his head to an axe.

Out of the darkness appeared three people. The owner of the axe was a big man with short, black hair, black eyes and a black armour as well as a black cape. The wielder of the sword was a woman with long, grey hair, black eyes, black boots and a dark robe. But it was certainly not a Black Fang robe; it looked more like one of Sacean style. It covered her whole body from her belt upward, downward, it was open at the sides, showing her legs.

And there was a third person. A man with dark hair and eyes wearing a black robe as well as a black cape, grey pants and almost black boots. He had a sword with him. None of the three looked older than 20.

The man who hadn't attacked yet opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but before he could speak, the last swordsman took a sprint gripped Nino.

"One step and she dies!" he yelled and brought his sword to her throat. Nino screamed and looked at the big blade fearfully. But the sword wielding man drew his sword as if that little girl's life didn't matter. Nino feared for her life and her captor tightened his grip. _I'm done for! _Nino thought. But the man didn't move. He just held his sword before his head, his eyes closed, as if he where praying. Suddenly, Nino's captor was thrown away by a lightning flash.

"Now!" the man yelled and the swordswoman jumped forward and stabbed her sword into the foe.

"Whoa! Where did you learn that, Eliwood?" the axeman asked.

"I found this sword in the desert. It's of the same kind that madman used."

"You, lassie!" The axeman now spoke to Nino, "Your name's Nino, right?"

"H-how do you know…?"

"Hector! Your manners are as terrible as always! Tell me, Nino, are you being attacked by your fellow members?"

"Y-yes, it's because…"

"You can explain why later! For now, we have to protect the prince!" the man called Hector said.

He wanted to run away, but Nino hindered him.

"Wait! You have to help Jaffar, too! He's in a corridor west of here!"

"We have to go westward to the throne room anyway. Alright, we'll help him!" Eliwood said.

"Eliwood!" A voice from the dark said, "When you don't mind, I'll clear up hear."

Eliwood looked backward over his shoulder to see someone point in the direction of a treasure room.

"Alright Legault, why not."

"It's uncle Lagault!" Nino screeched and ran to her "uncle".

"Well met Nino", Legault said.

"May I come with you? Pleeeaaase!"

"No Nino, you have to show those people the way to Jaffar."

"Okay!"

Now, a group of people came out of the dark. In the light of their torches, Nino noticed that the three people she had met earlier looked fully different then in the dark. They didn't only consist of black and grey like it first looked like. The swordswoman, who's hair where now green, ran over to a wagon. In the wagon sat two people. One of them stood up and asked her something, pointing to Nino.

-----

A little later

"Thank you for the explanation, Lyn."

"Okay! Listen everyone! Sain, Oswin, Dart, Rebecca, Priscilla and Bartre follow that girl over there and rescue her friend, Legault takes on the treasure room, Canas will escort him for safety and everyone else follows Eliwood to the throne room!" the man said so clearly that everyone, even Nino, could hear it. A paladin, a general, a warrior who scared her a little bit, a troubadour and a female sniper who looked as if they where not much older than Nino herself and a berserker who scared her a little bit too, moved into her direction. The paladin opened his mouth, but closed it again immediately when the general gave him a scary look.

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That was the prologue! Please review and tell me how it was!


	2. Anger and sorrow

Well, here I am again with chapter I (Part 1 was the prologue) of this story.

Reviews are still appreciated and flaming still isn't.

And again, I'm not going to say more than this, so let's get started!

**Chapter I: Anger**** and sorrow**

Fearfully, Nino looked at the destruction the part of the group that should follow her was causing. To her left, the heavily armoured general whom his companions called Oswin, pushed his lance through the stomach of a swordsman. To her right, the berserker who was called Dart crushed the skull of a shaman with his axe. From behind her, the sniper named Rebecca shot down a paladin who was causing Bartre trouble.

This way, they slowly moved onward, leaving a mountain of dark-robed corpses. Nino was only looking at all the different kinds of injuries. She didn't even know that there existed so many types of wounds.

But suddenly, someone broke her chain of thoughts. "Watch out, Nino!" a mounted healer called Priscilla yelled. Nino looked up and saw a knight throwing his javelin at her. She screamed and casted the spell she already had to cast this night. She lifted her Elfire tome and panicky murmured the spell. A fireball flew and burned down the javelin. She casted the next page of her book and the knight got trapped in a pillar of fire.

"Oh what a great spell", the paladin whom they call Sain, who didn't do much yet, said, "But not as great as your lovely face, Nino!" Nino gave him a strange look.

"Hey, lass, how old are you?" Dart yelled. "Fourteen, why?" Nino answered. Suddenly, Sain's face showed an emotion Nino couldn't fully place. Maybe it was surprise, she thought. But it didn't have to bother her now.

-----

Meanwhile, Jaffar sliced open the twentieth-or-somewhat-like-that axe fighter and he began to think how much longer he could survive. Exhaustion became master over his body and even his insignificant daggers began to feel like tons.

Then, a paladin in purple armour came out of the shadows.

"Jaffar, you filthy traitor. You shall be punished by the loyal force of Lady Ursula."

"So it's you, Maxime. You're so despicable. You always were Ursula's puppy. And now you're going to kill me to earn some favour? Bah!"

"If I'm lucky, I'll be promoted to one of the four fangs in your place!"

"You? Laughable!"

"Die, traitor!"

Maxime attacked Jaffar with his (or her, can someone please tell me? For now, I'm going to say "he") lance. Jaffar took his last energy together and jumped right onto the lance. He had trouble keeping his balance, but he threw himself at Maxime nonetheless. Maxime's horse reared and Jaffar had to make a swift back flip to not get bashed by its hooves. He dodged another lance stab and jumped right on the horse's head. But he was too tired and easily thrown off by its rider.

Maxime was preparing for a finishing stab.

'_So this was it? Nino, please be safe'_ he thought.

"Die, traitor!"

Jaffar closed his eyes, listening to the horses gallop. He shared his full strength. He jumped as high as he could. He opened his eyes again, looked down and landed right on the paladin, stabbing his dagger into his neck.

Maxime was thrown off of his horse and landed on the ground.

"You pathetic… traitor…" where his last words.

Jaffar had won… But he didn't see a swordsman sneaking up at him from behind. He got slashed in the back. He fell on the ground and the swordsman was pulling out for the final blow, but suddenly, he felt a short spear in his stomach.

Jaffar looked surprised. He looked at the direction the spear came from.

'_Nino! She must've found aid! But from who?'_

"Jaffar!"

"Nino! Who are those people?"

"They're a group who's obviously here to save the prince!"

Jaffar tried to stand up. He tumbled.

"Jaffar! You're injured!"

"I know. Wait a second." He took a bottle which was filled with Elixir, Nino could see at the blue colour.

"I could take a refreshment anyway", Jaffar said and drunk a little bit of the bluish liquid.

"That feels better!"

"Jaffar… thank god you're not dead.

"Hmpf! I never had a high meaning of god. Anyways, good to see you're safe, too."

But right in the moment joy was on its best, a voice came from the dark.

"Annoying little girl!"

"Ursula!" Jaffar shouted.

"Why don't you just die as Lady Sonia wishes? Your dead would please your mother more than your life ever did! Eat my Bolting!!"

A thunder bolt came down at Nino. She screamed. She fell on her knees, then with her face down on the ground.

There swelled a bad feeling in Jaffar's belly, like a shock freezing his entire body in one second. He heard a sniper yelling something, then a healer on horseback came to him.

"Hm… that looks bad…" she said, "But I'll try whatever lies in my might. Heal!!"

She lifted her staff and Nino got surrounded by a blue light.

A few seconds later, the light pillar faded again. Not much has changed. Nino still laid there and didn't move, although she didn't look as ravaged anymore. The troubadour discussed something with the sniper. The only thing Jaffar could understand was "I'll call Serra."

The feeling in his belly changed to that of boiling lava.

"Ursula! Prepare yourself!"

After yelling that, he ran. He ran into a hall where he suspected Ursula could be. And for true, he could see the shape of the valkyrie in the dark. She threw a fire ball at him, but he had no problem dodging it by just running forward.

He jumped at Ursula and then performed a move as fast that it looked as if there where two of him, leaving two deep cuts in Ursula's body.

Her sight got foggy. Slowly, she glided off of her horse and landed on the floor severely.

As she felt her life streaming out of her, she wanted to say something, but she couldn't bring out a word.

Maybe because of her loss of blood, her body felt very lightly for one moment. Then, all went black.

But Jaffar wasn't satisfied yet. He pushed his daggers into her face. He looked pitiful at the blood flooding out, then, he hacked of her neck.

"Stop it Jaffar. She's dead."

Jaffar turned around and saw a familiar face.

"Hurricane, what are you doing here?"

"I just got rid of the chest here."

"You didn't change at all."

"But you did, Angel of Death."

"…"

"Come, one of our better healers is treating Nino."

The two former Black Fang members vanished into the dark. Seconds later, they appeared again, right next to Nino. A woman in a white coat with pink hair in two pigtails, a torch in one hand and a staff in the other, screamed and gave the two men a scary look.

"Don't worry Serra, it's me, Lagault. Just go on."

The woman who Legault called Serra still looked scared.

"Oh, you can trust this guy too, just start."

"Okay!" Serra said and lifted her staff, still not looking at all comfortable.

"Little girl, you will receive the honour to be saved by my wonderful hands. Evil spirits, take my Mend staff!"

Serra's staff lighted up and the area around Nino was caught in a ball of deep blue.

But nothing happened. Everything and everyone was silent. The three people looked hopefully at the little girl, especially Jaffar, but there was no movement in her. Slowly, the blue light faded again. Jaffar looked up at Serra, but she just gave him a sombre gaze and shook her head. But suddenly, there was a little motion. Serra first didn't notice, but the trained eyes of the two men looked at Nino. There, a finger moved! The faces of the two former Black Fang's cleared up. Serra inspected them and saw surprise. And she saw joy. Very big joy.

Nino turned her head to the side, then she gave a sound. It was a very low and weak mumble, but it was a sound. She was alive. She was alive!

"We'll bring her to the camp and give her proper treatment. That way, she'll survive for sure." Serra said.

But Jaffar didn't hear her. He could only one thing. He heard his own voice saying words never spoken, but they where evidently true.

'_She's alive! She's alive!'_

Shaking from joy and exhaustion, he followed the unknown group who Nino was with and who had saved her to their camp.

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That's finally done! Please review and tell me how it was!


	3. Booldless revenge

Hey guys, I'm back with chapter II of this story, where Matthew gets his seconds of glory (if you didn't get it yet, read the story to find out).

Reviews are still appreciated, flaming still isn't.

And again, that's all so let's start with the chapter!

**Chapter II: Bloodless revenge**

Jaffar just sat there, in a spare tent the company of Eliwood had with them. They had a lot of spare tents with them, as it seemed. _'It must be because their company keeps growing during their journey. Their variety of different fighters makes clear that they didn't stick together for long.' _This was no problem to notice for someone as observant as Jaffar. And he also noticed that something moved at his left. His eyes rolled to the side a little bit to see her living body. To see her weak, but living body.

"Jaffar…? Is that you, Jaffar?" she said with low voice. It was not much more than a whisper, but Jaffar's trained ears could hear her without problems.

"Nino… I was worried about you."

"You were worried about me?"

"Yeah."

"That's… funny."

"What's funny about that?"

"Well, you were always so… cold."

"Nino… It hurts me to hear you saying that."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Then I want to apology."

"That's not necessary. The only thing you have to do to apology is getting healthy again as soon as possible:"

He noticed a smile on Nino's face while saying that.

When Nino fell asleep again, Jaffar started thinking. What for goddamn Black Fang's sake was he saying? And why was he saying it? He looked at Nino again. At the girl who changed him so much. He got a feeling which he couldn't place because he wasn't used to this kind of feelings. Or actually, he wasn't used to feelings at all.

Then, Jaffar thought about Ursula. And about Sonia. The woman who had ordered him to kill her own daughter.

Ursula had said it, too. _"Annoying little girl! Why don't you just die as Lady Sonia wishes?"_

His blood began to boil again. "Sonia!" he whispered to himself.

-----

Priscilla opened the entrance of the tent. She had got the job to look after Nino. There the girl laid. Priscilla looked at her soft face._ 'When her childish features will be gone, she'll look tough with that scar on her forehead'_ Pricilla thought.

But something missed in the picture of the tent. That man, who was with her the whole time after she was placed in the tent. That man whom she called Jaffar. He wasn't there.

-----

Jaffar felt the icy wind on the margin of the camp. _'The mountain fortress was discovered, so that witch must be in the water temple!' _he thought. He took his leave, with his blood still boiling in his veins. But he had barely set a step when a voice hindered him.

"Where are you going, Angel of Death?"

"Hurricane. ...I'm going to get my revenge."

"So you're going to challenge Sonia? In that case, you can't go alone. And in this state, the girl's not the one to come with you."

"So you'll do? No thanks. I do my stuff alone."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do!"

"You know you cannot shake me of, Angel of Death, so just let me come with you."

"You're right. For this one time, you can come. But next time when you come with this show, I'll kill you without mercy."

"Alright, I got it!"

So the two men took their leave together. They walked through the dark, cold night. But even in the darkness, they had no problems avoiding the many tree roots and branches. But soon, another voice prevented them.

"Where are you two going?"

"Hey Matthew, what's up?"

"What's up? Maybe I should ask that." The thief slipped out of his hide place.

"Jaffar here is going to get his revenge on Sonia, Brendan Reed's wife. And I don't know why, but I'm following him."

"Hey, did I ask you to?"

"But you two can't just go out on your own!"

"…" Jaffar grumbled "…You know nothing…!"

"I know nothing!?" Matthew shouted "You really think I know nothing!? I know very well, Jaffar, maybe I know even better than you!"

"In opposite to Nino... she couldn't be rescued…" his voice calmed again, but as only the trained eyes of the two former Black Fangs could see, his face didn't.

"And now look at me. I'm standing right in front of her murder! I could just stab my daggers into your neck, Jaffar, and I would have my revenge. But I don't. I don't know why I don't, but I don't."

"Bah. You're a fool." Jaffar gave Matthew a look which didn't show any sign of something like pity. It was a cold stare, maybe the coldest Matthew ever saw.

"I'm not a fool. People change. And so did you."

"Bah! Someone like Sonia doesn't change!" Jaffar shouted and pushed the thief to the side. He vanished into the night, so not even Matthew or Lagault could see him. Lagault lifted his shoulders. "There's no point in trying to follow him now."

So the two thieves went back to the camp. Covered in the darkness, one tear rolled down Matthews cheek.

-----

_Meanwhile in the camp_

"That man, Jaffar! He's missing!" Lyndis yelled over the camp. "I saw him vanishing to the west!" the answer came from Serra. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah! It may have been only an eye blink I saw him, but he definitely moved into the western forest!"

"Where could he want to go to?" A yell from Dorcas came.

"Wherever it is, I think it's up to no good! We have to follow him!" Eliwood responded.

A cloaked man yelled something in protest, but the angry battle screams of Hector, Dart and Geitz made him unhearable. So he decided to just follow the group.

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Done! As you may suspect, in the next chapter, we get the battle in the water temple, where Jaffar will meet the tactician!

Skythief, the flying bird


	4. The witch of the water temple

Hello everyone, here I am again, with chapter III of this story!

Like always, reviews are appreciated, flaming isn't.

Let's start the chapter!

**Chapter III: The witch of the water temple**

Jaffar moved over the plains in full speed. Over there, he could already see the water temple. It was an old temple with lots of plants on the walls and pillars, in the middle of a small lake. Every normal man would have wondered how it was possible to reach it, but Jaffar was a former Black Fang member. As one of the Four Fangs, he knew the secrets of place. He sought a little bit in the grass, then he found a trigger with the Black Fang symbol on it. He pushed the trigger

and right before him, a path to the temple dried up. On quick feet, he slipped in.

Before he was deep inside, he heard a voice screaming. He saw a man, who he recognized as Brendan Reed's brother, Jan Reed. He ran away from a woman who was hunting and casting spells at him. Jaffar blocked her way, and Jan vanished down one of the many stairs in the temple.

"How delicious! It's Jaffar!"

"Sonia! You will pay for your deeds."

"You pathetic… Jaffar! You may be one of the Four Fangs, but my rank is still higher than yours. I'm Brendan Reeds wife! So shut up now!"

"You witch! You murdered him!" Jan's voice sounded from downstairs.

"So you killed the boss. And you also tried to kill… You also almost murdered your own daughter!"

Jaffar jumped forward and slashed at Sonia. She jumped back and casted a spell from an ice blue book she held.

"Fimbulvetr!" she yelled.

Suddenly, Jaffar went frosty and stopped moving. He was trapped in a box of ice. Sonia came closer to him, step by step, with an evil smile on her face.

"Teehee! Now die, you traitor!" Sonia said with an almost childish voice. But then, an axe flew through the air, sliced open the ice and almost hit Sonia, cutting off a bit of hair. Behind Jaffar stood a trembling Jan, who could every moment vanish downstairs again.

"You mice are boring me! Now hurry up and die already!"

Again, Sonia casted her Fimbulvetr spell. Jan froze immediately, but Jaffar could dodge in time. He skipped at Sonia, bounced to the side dodging another beam of ice and jumped right into the water. He sprung out again, right in time before the water froze, and sneaked up at Sonia from behind. Without turning around, she casted the Fimbulvetr spell at her back. Jaffar bounded up and landed right in front of Sonia. For one second, everything went silent. Then, loud footsteps appeared from the rear. Before an eye blink passed, a general, a nomadic trooper and two paladins stood in front of Jaffar, behind him where the three lords, above him soared three Pegasus knights. There followed lots of other fighters.

"Jaffar you fool!" A lord in blue armor said to him. "Ye'r not the smartest guy going out on your own, eh?" A big berserker yelled.

"You," Jaffar said to the group "What's with Nino? Why are you leaving her alone?"

"Don't worry. Pricilla, Lucius and Rebecca looking for her," a red haired lord said.

"That woman, Sonia's vanishing!" A lavender haired Pegasus knight reported from the sky. In the same moment, all paths sunk into the water. Lots of shouts where heard from the group. But Jaffar quietly walked around, until he found a spot on the ground which was a little bit higher then the rest of the floor. Jaffar pushed against it with all might, then several paths appeared again. A man in a brown cloak watched and congratulated him.

"And you are?"

"Keith. I'm the tactician of the group. Jaffar, you seem to know well about this place. Please, tell me everything you know."

"Okay. There will appear and vanish paths every now and then. So you'll have to move quickly and stay on the plateaus as much as possible. And do you see those stairs? It are traps. There'll come reinforcements out of there."

"Thank you, Jaffar."

The tactician thought a minute, then he quickly gave his orders:  
"Everyone, move carefully! Stay on the plateaus as much as possible, be sure to clean up all enemies and keep an eye on those stairs! Dart and the flyers, clean up the staff-wielding enemies before everyone else comes into their range!"

Everyone obeyed without hesitation and slowly moved onward. Jaffar had his hands full. Hen killed a pirate to the left, stabbed his dagger into the heart of a cavalier, jumped on a mage who had turned his back to him, which was dead before he knew what happened. But for the first time in his life, it bored him. He didn't want to kill anyone, expect for one person. He longed to cut off her head himself. Every free moment, he looked around for someone who could take him to her quick.

Then, he noticed a swordsman behind him and he turned around to keep up his killing rate. And then, he looked at the throne room. "She must be there!" he thought, but there still was no path to it. That path would appear as last, he knew. Suddenly, he detected a Wyvern rider behind him. He turned around and flowed into an offensive stance. But the rider didn't lift his weapon. He just said: "Need a lift?" and pointed to the throne room. Jaffar just jumped onto the Wyvern, silent but happy.

"No, Heath, no!" Keith yelled from the rear, but Heath didn't listen. _'I'm ignored… Again!' _he sobbed.

-----

"Get a good hold!" Heath said to Jaffar while his Wyvern soared through the sky. Suddenly, a voice yelled out of the throne room.

"Eat my Bolting!"

Heath ordered his mount a back flip, just in time to avoid the spell. He hasted even more, leaving Sonia as few chances to cast a spell as possible. And, without much more trouble, he reached the room. Jaffar jumped down and ran over to Sonia. Heath immediately took on the Wyvern riders protecting her. He threw his spear at one of them severely damaging him. He drew a killing edge, spun it around in one hand and pierced the other one's armor. The impact threw him off of his Wyvern, and the fall smashed the last life out of him. The other one, with Heath's spear still in his belly, flew right in his direction, spun his javelin around would have heavily damaged Heath if he wouldn't have been able to dodge in time. As the enemy rider came closer, Heath leaned forward and pushed his spear further through his foe's stomach. In some kind of suicide attack, that one kept flying forward and crashed into Heath's Wyvern. The impact threw Heath off with ease, and he fell on the hard ground. He felt the heavy body of his mount land on him, and after that, the enemy rider with his Wyvern.

-----

Jaffar took a high jump to avoid Sonia's Fimbulvetr and tried to land on his foe, but she hid behind her throne and Jaffar's dagger was stuck in the wood. Sonia threw another ice beam at him, so he had to leave his dagger. He hid under the throne and tripped Sonia up with his leg. She fell, he jumped out of his hiding place, drew his dagger out of the throne, leaned over its edge to cut Sonia's neck off, but suddenly, everything went cold again. Sonia grinned when the dagger stopped right before her nose. She rolled to the side, then stood up and laughed evil.

She lifted her hand to cast another spell. She stopped for a few seconds to enjoy then moment. Then, she created a magic diagram and pointed a triangle around it. Jaffar knew that formation. It was her special move. If he couldn't dodge, he would be done for. And in this situation, there was no point in dodging. He gave her a fearful look. As she saw it, she stopped again to give him an evil smile. She lifted her spell book, but then, her diagram and concentration where broken by a spear flying through one point of the triangle. She jumped to the side and looked into the direction of the spears wielder.

"Sorry, I couldn't come earlier, I was a little busy!" Heath yelled. "Why couldn't you be busy only a few seconds longer!?" Sonia shouted. Heath already drew his killing edge again, but Sonia was faster. In an eye blink, Heath's Wyvern was fully frozen, and so was he. Sonia created her magic diagram again. She began to cast her spell, not noticing the one who was thawed already. She spoke the last word and lifted her hand, but before she could finish her magic charm, a dagger reached her neck. Before she realized what happened, her head landed on the ground. She wanted to shout, but since her mouth wasn't connected to her lungs again, it wasn't possible. The only thing that came out was a cascade of blood.

Suddenly, loud groans where heard from the rear. Only by listening, Jaffar knew the final path to the throne room had appeared. He turned around and saw a group of warriors, most of them with angry faces, the angriest of them being Keith's. A grey haired sage loosened himself from the group. He casted an Elfire spell and unfroze Heath quickly.

"Sorry guys, you missed the fun," the Wyvern rider said lightly.

"Missed the fun!?" Keith yelled in disbelieve.

Hector and Eliwood looked uneasily at Sonia's headless body.

At the same time, Sain's eyes widened.

Since there was nothing more to do, everyone left. Keith chastised Heath and Jaffar, but as usually, Heath didn't listen to him and Jaffar even less. "Thank you," he murmured to Heath. The Wyvern rider just grinned.

The only one who was left in the throne room was Sain, who had decided to examine Sonia a little more in detail.

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That's that for this chapter! Maybe I did go a little too far about the thing with Sain… I just wanted to give it something of humor. Please review!

Skythief, the stealing bird


	5. Moments

Hello everyone, here I am again with chapter IV of this story, reviews are still appreciated, flaming still isn't and please enjoy the story!

**Chapter IV: Moments**

He sat on the ground and heard the hooves rumble beneath him. The wooden wheels silently rolled over the dry ground. He listened to the many footsteps, to the horses of the knights and the wings of the flying troops. Calmly, they moved along the road. It had been three days since the company had received the map from Bern's queen Hellene. After two days, they would arrive at the shrine of seals. Nino recovered fast, but she wasn't strong enough to move yet. Jaffar accompanied her in the carriage.

He heard her calm breathe, and he was happy he was here ensure it didn't suddenly stop. He looked at her face. She was in a light sleep, which could fade at every heavier shock or noise. Jaffar imagined an earthquake, how Nino would immediately open her bright, bluish eyes in surprise. Maybe she would scream, Jaffar thought, or at least hide under her blankets in terror. If he would have known how to smile, a smile would have appeared on his face now.

Jaffar watched Nino's grass green hair, which skipped up and down on the rumble of the carriage. It reminded him of the fields of his hometown.

_He saw himself when he was a child. His parents had died and he had no siblings. He had no money, and he lived on the street._ _His hair where even messier than they where now and his only shirt was filled with holes and drenched in mud. The only thing that kept him alive where his stealing abilities. _

_One day, he sneaked through the fields __of long grass, paying attention the farmer didn't see him. He approached a cow which didn't look to big for him. When he was near the animals head, he swiftly performed his usual move. He drew a knife, and ripped open the neck of the cow. Hearing the animals scream, he knew he hadn't much time. He slashed off a piece of flesh, hearing the farmer's angry shouting. He swiftly vanished with his piece of meat, thinking he had won. He was shocked when he heard swift footsteps and tempered howls behind him. The dog… He had forgotten about the new dog! He turned around and saw the big beast, looking more like a wolf than a dog, dashing into his direction. With death so nearby, his fear froze him. The animal jumped at him, when a flame from behind cut off his try to kill the young boy. Jaffar turned around to see a beautiful woman with a spell book under her arm. "You're quite skilled with a knife, boy," she said._

That woman had been Sonia. The anger coming up in Jaffar brought him back to reality. He looked at Nino's scar and clenched his fists. If Sonia wasn't dead, Jaffar would have killed her right now. But to his relief, the truth was that she was.

"Jaffar..?" Nino's still low voice said.

Jaffar turned his head to the said to show he was listening.

"Jaffar… You where in the water temple, I heard."

He nodded.

"What… What happened to mother?"

"She's dead."

"Really?"

Jaffar nodded again. "I wouldn't lie to you," he added.

"That's… cute," Nino nodded.

Jaffar gave her a confused look. This was the first time he was called "cute".

Nino spit out a laugh. Jaffar felt the strong desire to laugh with her, but he didn't know how.

After a few moments of silence, Jaffar spoke again.

"Nino… Can you… Er… can you teach me how to laugh…?" he asked stuttering. He felt dumb asking that, but it just slid out of his mouth.

"Jaffar… That's… That's cute again! You have changed so much! I never heard you saying something like that before!"

Yes, it was true. He had changed. He already had to admit that himself. He didn't know if he liked it or not. An odd feeling spread inside him.

"Jaffar, you're so red, are you ill?" Nino asked, to Jaffar surprise. She staggered over to him and held her hand on his forehead. "You're warm," she said worried.

"No, I'm all right. Go and rest. You don't look good."

"Okay Jaffar, if you say so," Nino said, sounding like she wasn't really concerned about herself. But she tottered back to her bed and obeyed, mainly because she knew he was probably right.

"And tomorrow, I'll teach you how to laugh." She grinned before closing her eyes.

Jaffar touched his forehead. He really was warm. But he didn't know why, it was actually quite cold in the carriage.

Jaffar stood up and made a step in the direction of Nino's bed.

Before he could set another step, Lyn stormed into the wagon. "Bandits are approaching!" she yelled. Nino's eyes blinked open. She wanted to rise, but Lyn and Jaffar prevented her.

"Come Jaffar!"

"No. I'll stay here and guard the carriage."

Once again, Keith waved with his arms in protest. But Lyn, who definitely had enough of him, gave him a hard slap. Keith, who understood as much as there was to understand, went to another wagon to, as always, accompany Merlinus.

"You know what, Jaffar?" Nino asked. Jaffar just turned his head to show he listened.

"When you're here, I feel much safer…" Jaffar stared at her for a second, but then his attention was drawn by a clumsy brigand who leapt at them. Jaffar calmly stood his ground and placed his dagger where he calculated the bandit to land. His plan worked out effortlessly and he dodged the axe which had stopped above his head and now slipped out of the thug's hands.

Then, he heard how a swordsman slashed a crack into the wagon's wall. Jaffar performed a back flip and stabbed his blade into the bandit's head while flying. Nino loudly applauded. Another axe wielder tried to enter through the crack. While Jaffar was so focused on the opponent before him, he didn't notice a brigand making a crack in the other side of the carriage and leaping at Nino. But as by ghost's hand, he jumped backward and stabbed his dagger into the enemy's heart. Nino sighed in relief, as they heard the first enemy scream and jump up, nearly reaching the top of the wagon, only to get a dagger thrown into his neck. He thumbed down right before Jaffar's feet. From outside, they heard that the bandits where retreating.

Nino stood up and hugged Jaffar. Jaffar stunned and was thrown onto his back. He wanted to get out of this situation, but he was speechless. Because he hadn't heard the other brigand, because he had reacted while he hadn't even noticed him, and, first of all, because Nino suddenly hugged him. Slowly, he caught his tongue again.

"Nino… Please… Get… Off… Of me."

"Oh… I'm sorry," she let him go again, blushing a little bit.

Jaffar waited until she slept again, then he stroke the sweat from his forehead.

'_Phew, I didn't know girls of fourteen could be so heavy' _he thought. But when he thought about it, he hadn't disliked it all that much.

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Alright, I got that done! I don't know why I made this chapter. I originally planned on starting the fight against Lloyd here. That will be the stuff going on next chapter, then!

Skythief, the stealing bird


	6. The battle begins

Hello again, here is chapter V of this story!

Reviews are appreciated, flaming isn't.

So now enjoy!

**Chapter V:**** The battle begins!**

For a few seconds, it was silent again. Nino enjoyed these seconds and used them to take a short break. Then already, the next enemies appeared: Three big swordsmen came from the hallway and made their way in her direction, crossing the many corpses of their allies. She had done this many times over since they entered the fortress. It was easy, almost too easy. A fireball flew, one of the men screamed, the next one ran right into a pillar of fire. A shadow came down from the ceiling and cut of the head of the third enemy. It was their basic tactic. Nino waited at the gateway and the foes, who thought there was only a little girl, where rapidly killed by her magic, then Jaffar came down and sliced open the remainders.

Nino was already much better with her tome and Jaffar could see her grow. She had become so much better in just one battle… From outside the castle, enemy soldiers entered the gate. A Wyvern rider flew into the corridor, pumping his on the ceiling. Along the bottom of his wings, two snipers targeted the little girl. Nino, dodging the arrows, had trouble focusing on her spell, but finally, she brought out the fire blast. The resistanceless Wyvern was instantly grilled and his rider fled in terror. The two snipers tried their best to catch the girl. They began to understand why they where ordered to go here. Their constant fire was stopped by a sudden "booh" from behind. They turned around but the only thing they saw where two daggers reaching their necks. This wasn't some kind of illusion, Jaffar was just way to fast for them. In a full speed sprint, he crossed the gateway and stopped right in front of Nino. She gave a little scream.

"Stop doing that! I always think you'll hit me!"

Jaffar just nodded.

His attention was caught by two knights at the end of the hallway. He ran in their direction to face them. At the same moment, Nino noticed a lone paladin coming down from a near hill toward them. Out of instinct, she started throwing fireballs at him. He avoided with much skill, speed and elegance. But Nino couldn't help thinking to see a surprised look on his face. She didn't recognize him until she heard his familiar voice.

"Stop, Nino, please stop with that!" Kent yelled. In the first moment, Nino was shocked she almost killed an ally. But when the knight came closer and she saw he wasn't damaged at all, she sighed in relief. He dismounted his horse and raised an eyebrow. "Done already?" he asked, looking at Jaffar who sat on top of two knight corpses. "We're not sure about that. There may be more of them farther inside," Nino informed. "Where did you come for?" Jaffar asked. "There's trouble in another castle. You're needed there. It's right north from here. I'll clean up here." Jaffar raised his shoulders. "Come, Nino," he said.

So the two left, leaving Kent, seeing another swordsman storming out of the castle. They weren't really concerned about it. Kent would do it with ease.

"Nino…"

"Yes?"

"You've… You've much improved," the assassin said with strange smile. It looked like when someone tries to laugh with a broken jaw.

"Same to you!" Nino answered with a wide grin. Jaffar just raised an eyebrow.

"In smiling, I mean!"

Again, Jaffar did his best to give a smile, but it was more scaring than anything else.

"But you still have much to learn, haha!"

"…I guess so."

Finally, they reached the other castle. There were Sain and Wil, fighting at least a half doze of cavaliers and a few archers and it where still getting more. Sain stabbed down a horseman and Wil shot three arrows at the same time underneath Sain's arm, felling three archers. But two new cavaliers stormed toward Sain and four bowmen replaced their three companions. At the same time, two Wyvern riders launched their mounts from the tower of the fortress. The only thing that prevented them from piercing Sain was a hail of fire. Surprised, he looked into the sky as the two riders thumbed down next to him. An enemy paladin saw his chance and pushed his spear forward. Unable to get everything at the same time, couldn't dodge. The paladin saw victory drawing near, but his vision was abruptly stopped by his head leaving his body. An assassin landed behind him, his dagger covered in crimson red. Now, Nino rushed to help too.

Slowly, the Caelin knights began to understand the situation. With new courage, they struck even faster. Soon, the air was filled with the sound of metal and fire clashing on armour and running through flesh. Four archers aimed Jaffar, but the arrows never reached their target. He vanished and, in a flash of red, appeared again behind the bowmen. Three of them fell onto the ground lifeless. The fourth one stunned as he recognized the attacker.

"I-it's the Angel of Death!" he yelled in terror and ran away, just to be caught by Sain's lance. Slowly, the quartet began to win from the Black Fang mass. After some time, Kent also rejoined them. With the quick swordsman on the front, a mage and a sniper backing him up and a paladin duo blocking the escape way, the enemies had no chance on living. The group entered a bigger hall. This made them move easier, but it also meant there was more place for the foes, too. Suddenly, a paladin with eight cavaliers entered the hallway. The three Caelin knight's recognized the paladin, who was connected to bad memories.

"I am Cameron! This fortress is under my command. I won't let Master Lloyd down!"

He and his battalion stormed forward in full speed, their lances right before them. Jaffar immediately killed two cavaliers. A couple of fireballs and arrows backed him up and blew away four more. Kent and Sain stormed forward and killed two more horsemen. But the last one, Cameron himself, kept his gallop. He lifted his halberd hacked aimed Nino. "No!" Jaffar screamed. Nino closed her eyes and held her hands above her head in fear. When she thought it was over, a flash prevented the paladin. He, Nino and everyone else looked into the direction of the entrance. There stood a mage, his arm stretched in their direction, a thunder tome in the other hand.

"Erk!" Nino yelled in relief. Behind her, Cameron lifted his axe again. Erk casted his spell, but someone else was faster. "Rest in peace", Jaffar whispered into the paladin's ear. He felt an unbearable pain in his back. His halberd fell on the ground and, with his arm still in the air, he slowly followed it. The assassin lightly jumped off of the horse, which ran away in terror.

"Thank you, Erk!" Kent yelled and rode over to him.

"It was nothing. I came to ask for reinforcements and then I saw what happened. I just had to help."

"Reinforcements you say? Where do you need them?"

Now, the whole group had reached him. They looked at him, their eyes showing their silent curiosity.

"Guy and Lyn… Lady Lyndis… whatever… have reached the shrine of seals already, but they're having trouble with the Black Fang commander."

"Brother…" Nino murmured.

"Alright", Kent ordered. "Sain and I will clean up this fortress. Nino, Jaffar and Wil will back up Guy and Lyn."

"Well, sir tactician Keith ordered to bring the knight's of Caelin…" Erk said, laying a sarcastic tone on the words _sir tactician. _"Maybe we better…"

But no one listened. Kent and Sain rode back to the castle and the others moved toward the shrine. Erk shook his head.

"And this means I am the pour guy to tell _sir tactician_ he has been ignored again. But he shouldn't be all too mad… He's used to it."

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Phew, that's finally done! Sorry that I didn't update for so long time! I wrote some shorter stories and have been busy with other things.

Skythief, the stealing bird


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